Cryptocurrency mining involves using a computer, or several computers, to validate transactions on a blockchain. Technically, these computers solve cryptographic equations and record data in a digital ledger. The more computers solving equations, the faster the blockchain can validate transactions. When miners verify the hashes of unconfirmed blocks, they receive a reward for each verified hash. Mining can be energy and computationally-intensive, requiring specialized hardware and crypto-mining software. Among the most mined (and most profitable) cryptocurrencies are Bitcoin (BTC), Monero (XMR), Ravencoin (RVN), and Dogecoin (DOGE). Ether (ETH) used to be part of this list but Ethereum has recently shifted …

Binance Pool, a mining subsidiary of Binance, launched a $500 million lending project to support the crypto mining industry. It will provide loans to private blue-chip Bitcoin (BTC) crypto miners. According to the official blog post from Oct. 14, the Binance Pool will provide access to a $500 million loan fund on several conditions, which include an 18-to-24-month term, 5% to 10% interest rates, and some physical or digital assets as a security. The company will look at a wide range of metrics, including current performance, mining power and security quantity, to define the borrower's creditworthiness. Binance Pool will also …

It may not have been Tulip season in the Netherlands, but there was a palpable buzz at the picturesque Westerpark, which played host to the Bitcoin Amsterdam 2022 conference. Prominent speakers from all corners of the Bitcoin (BTC) ecosystem drew in a healthy number of attendees across the two days of the program, exploring wide-ranging topics, challenges and successes as the space nears its 14th year of existence. With global economic woes continuing across conventional markets and global monetary inflation concerns mounting, Bitcoin’s role as a potential hedge was a major topic of discussion, kicking things off inside the Westerunie …

Amid soaring Bitcoin (BTC) mining difficulty and sinking mining profitability, Colorado-based Bitcoin miner Crusoe Energy Systems has announced the acquisition of the operating assets of portable BTC mining operator Great American Mining (GAM). The deal will see GAM’s operations integrate into Crusoe’s, adding over 10 megawatts (MW) to its mining output and around 4,000 application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) crypto mining rigs — increasing Crusoe’s capacity by about 9% according to the company. GAM builds and deploys portable BTC mining facilities — vehicle trailer-mounted containers enclosed with ASIC miners — with the goal of helping oil and gas companies take advantage …

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and a group of six other U.S. lawmakers have requested information from the head of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, on the energy usage and potential environmental impact of crypto miners. In an Oct. 12 letter, Senators Warren, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Edward Markey as well as House of Representatives members Al Green, Katie Porter, Jared Huffman, and Rashida Tlaib requested ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas provide details on the impact Texas crypto mining firms have had on the stability of the state’s energy grid, climate change, and subsidies given to companies. According to the …

If you were to hang around crypto traders this week, you would hear three phrases repeatedly muttered: “volatility,” “bond prices” and the potential of a “sharp move” in Bitcoin (BTC) price. Multiple analysts have placed emphasis on Bitcoin’s range-bound price action, leading some to question whether this is a sign of a market bottom, or even a decoupling from equities markets. In a recent “The Week On-chain” newsletter, Glassnode analysts said: “Recent weeks have seen an uncharacteristically low degree of volatility in Bitcoin prices, in stark contrast to equity, credit, and forex markets, where central bank rate hikes, inflation, and …

Hedging against downside has always been a challenge for Bitcoin BTC miners, and the current bear market is a perfect example of how energy prices and crypto market volatility can negatively impact miners’ profit margins and their ability to stay solvent. Oftentimes, institutional and retail traders use BTC-, stablecoin- and U.S. dollar-settled derivatives (options and futures contracts) to create hedging strategies that mitigate downside in Bitcoin price, and now an instrument specific to Bitcoin mining is available to miners. The Oct. 10 launch of Luxor Hashprice NDF, a non-deliverable forward contract, will allow miners to hedge their exposure to Bitcoin …

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has been pointing out the flaws affecting the Ethereum protocol following its latest upgrade. A major issue, according to Hoskinson, is the locking mechanism that prevents investors from withdrawing their staked Ether (ETH) from the Beacon Chain until the completion of the next upgrade. “Ethereum is the Hotel California of cryptocurrencies. You can check in but you can't check out,” said Hoskinson in a recent Cointelegraph Interview. According to Hoskison, this mechanism heavily impacts ETH's liquidity and could eventually spark a liquidity crisis. “You'll have less and less Ether trading in the marketplace," he explained. "And …

It’s a new all-time high–for the Bitcoin (BTC) mining difficulty. Hot on the heels of the Bitcoin hash rate hitting new highs, the difficulty adjustment or the ease at which Bitcoin miners are able to solve valid blocks has increased by 13.55%. Despite pressure from falling prices in 2022, The difficulty adjustment continues its steady march upward from the lows of August 2021. It hit an all-time high of 35.61T on October 10, following a period in which six blocks were solved in rapid succession. For Mark Morton, CEO of Scilling Digital Mining, a Bitcoin mining company based in Ireland, …

Bitcoin (BTC) begins a new week still under $20,000 — one which promises to give traders the excitement they have been looking for. After another very similar weekly close, BTC/USD is still waiting for the breakout from its multi-week trading range. The move has been long in the making, but so far, the market has lacked the catalyst to make it happen — support and resistance zones have remained unchallenged. This week, that might all change — the list of economic data prints due in the coming days is impressive, while geopolitical instability is gathering momentum in Europe as the …

Throughout the month of October, Bitcoin's (BTC) hash rate surged by 10.8% as it recorded new all-time highs on a daily basis. While the increase in hash rate ensures greater security for the Bitcoin network, multitudes of factors contribute to the metric. Falling GPU prices Hash rate relates to the computing power required by Bitcoin miners to mine a block. As a result, a higher hash rate demands stronger mining rigs that could help miners mine a block and earn mining rewards. As global markets recovered from chip shortages in 2022, the prices of the graphics processing units (GPU) — …

Bitcoin (BTC) miner Marathon Digital Holdings has revealed $81.3 million worth of exposure to recently bankrupted mining hosting provider Compute North. Marathon provided a breakdown of its exposure on Oct. 6 explaining the majority was in operating deposits worth $50 million, noting these deposits “were primarily related to King Mountain and Wolf Hollow security deposits and prepayments associated with the ongoing operation of those sites.” The remainder is split between $21.3 million allocated to “an unsecured senior promissory note” and $10 million in convertible preferred Compute North stock. It comes weeks after Compute North submitted a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing …